Japan to Deploy Long-Range Missiles Capable of Hitting China in Major Shift in Defense Policy - Report

By Jacob J
August 21, 2022 13:19 +08

28 Chinese aircraft, including nuclear bombers, breach Taiwanese air space

Japan is inching closer to a thorough overhaul of its long-entrenched 'pacifist' military policy in the backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions. A prominent Japanese newspaper reported on Sunday that Tokyo plans deploying cruise missiles with 1,000 km range to enhance its counterattack capability against China.

According to the Yomiuri newspaper, Japan would modify existing missiles to increase their reach substantially so as to achieve deterrence capability.

Japan public divided as laws easing limits on military take effect — Japan Self-Defence Forces' (SDF) troops march during the annual SDF troop review ceremony at Asaka Base in Asaka, near Tokyo October 27, 2013. Reuters

LDP's Election Win

Japan's gradual yet sustained shift away from the post-War pacifist constitution got a fillip last month when the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) cruised to thumping victory in the elections to the parliament's upper chamber.

The elections were held two days after the country's most popular political leader, former prime minister Shinzo Abe, was assassinated during a campaign stump speech in the eastern city of Nara. Abe was at the forefront of a move to renounce the 'pacifist constitution' and had taken decisive steps to increase the nation's military strength.

The Yomiuri report says that the new weapons will be launched by ships or aircraft and they would be stationed around the southern Nansei islands. The missiles will have the reach to hit the coastal areas of North Korea and China, the Yomiuri said, according to Reuters.

Significant Shift

If Japan goes ahead with the reported move, it will mark a significant shift from post-War Japan's military policy. Tokyo has decided all along not to deploy long-range missiles that can hit targets on foreign soil. One of the outstanding features of the post-War constitution was that Japan would use its military only for defensive purposes.

Japan protests again after Chinese ships sail into waters near disputed isles — A group of disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Reuters

However, the changing nature of the geopolitical dynamics is forcing a radical rethink at the top echelons of Japan's government. China's increasing aggression in the recent years and the dangerous turn the Taiwan crisis took this month in the wake of the visit of the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled island Regional tensions ratcheted up this month after a visit by Nancy have clearly influenced Tokyo.

Impact of Abe's Death

With a clear majority in both houses of the parliament and no elections to face in the next three years, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to push forward the move the amend the constitution.

Japan warns China of deteriorating relations over East China Sea dispute — Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (L) meets Chinese ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua in Tokyo, Japan Reuters

"We will deepen parliamentary debate over the Constitution further so a concrete amendment proposal can be compiled," Kishida said after the results came.

The assassination of Abe has also helped swing popular support for the policies he had held aloft. Abe was hugely unpopular in China, where his brand of nationalism was seen as a threat.

Here's a look at the slow and steady evolution of Japanese pacifism over the years.

World War II aftermath

Japan emerged from the World War II with deep scars on its conscience and the country undeniably gravitated to an anti-war stance. The post-war Constitution, which was drawn up when the country was under the US occupation, limited the use of force only as a means of self defence. The crux of Japan's pacifist stance was that the country will refrain from using force to resolve international conflicts. This essentially ruled out military alliances and intervention in regional military conflicts.

1950s and Korean Crisis

The tinkering of Japanese pacifism started in the early 1950s when the US nudged Japan to 're-arm' as it looked to bolster its position during the Cold War.

As the Korean War erupted the US withdrew its forces from Japan, leaving the country with no military to protect itself from any possible invasion. Then, under the behest of the US, a 75,000-strong National Police Reserve was formed in Japan to fill the military vacuum.

Again, the regional balance had significantly changed from 1945 with Chiang Kaishek losing the Chinese civil war. The emergence of Mao and the communists in China meant that America lost another regional ally, and this was at the root of US rethinking on Japan's total pacifism.

Prime Minister Yoshida did not give in to pressure to form a military force for self defence and take on bigger stakes in the region but eventually in 1952 a new National Safety Agency was set up to oversee the NPR.

Japan, China and South Korea foreign ministers kick off 2-day joint meetingJapanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (centre), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se at the trilateral foreign minister's meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on Aug 23, 2016 Reuters

As per the post-war constitution Japan was never to have a regular army, navy or air force and hence the NPR was seen merely as an extension of the police force. However, the National Safety Agency eventually became the Japan Defence Agency or the Ministry o Defence.

In 1954, the National Police Reserve became the Japan Self-Defense Forces but Yoshida made sure the forces were minimalist.

In the 1970s US President Richard Nixon renewed US pressure on Japan to assume bigger regional role.

In 1983, Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone wanted to make an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier' triggering protests. Also under his rule Japan breached for the first time the de-facto military spending limit of less than 1 percent of GDP.

Nakasone also cut a new path, allowing the export of military hardware to the US.

1990-91 Gulf War

Japan spent $13 billion in the war but with no active military participation, setting off debate over the country's efficacy in strategic interventions, this time the oil supplies. The call for becoming a 'normal nation' gained more traction.

Also a prosperous China's rising defence budget in the 1980s spooked Japan.

Japan initiated a plan to build a ballistic missile defence system (BMD) with US cooperation after the 1998 North Korea missile tests. In 2003 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proclaimed BMD a national priority.

In 2001, in a minor yet symbolic departure from the stance during 1990-91 Gulf War, Koizumi decided to support America's war on terror following the 9/11 al-Qaeda attack, by sending forces to the Indian Ocean.

In 2007, marking the 60th anniversary of the Japanese Constitution, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a "bold review" of the charter that paved the way for Japan's greater role in regional and global security.

Under Shinzo Abe again, in 2014 Japan ended a ban on its armed forces abroad. The ban had been in place since 1945. Ending military seclusion by approving collective self defence meant that Tokyo can extend military support to a friendly country under attack, something which it had been proscribed from doing for decades.